Pleated protective shield



Jan. 26, 1954 u. TORRICELLI PLEATED PROTECTIVE SHIELD Filed Dec. 29, 1951 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 26, 1954 UNI T ED STATES PATENT OFF ICE PLEKTED'PHOTECTIVE SHIELD Ugo TorriccllipNew York, N; Y., vassignor.to;."1"orricelli Creations, Incorporated, New York, N. Y'.,. a corporation of New York Application-December 29, 1951, SerialNo. 264,139

iii-Claims.

V This. invention relates to 'a; pleatedprotective prolonged by certain improvements thereto which form the subject-matter of this application. Whilethe protective shield of my aforesaid co pending application is well adapted to serve the purpose for which it wascintended, the construction of. the shieldherein-disclosed-provides substantially increased strength, eificiency, durability and ease of manipulation.

My improved protective shield construction is illustrated in. the accompanying. drawing, in

which: i V

Fig. 1 is a plan view of thepreparedsheet-material blank and associated tie element embodying my newimprovements; 7 I

Fig. 2 is a plan view-illustrating. rny present. protective shield in the, expanded-circular :fto-nm:

as. it appears during use; v

Fig. 3 a perspective view trating how it is formed into aoompactpack- Fig. 4. isa-side-elevational vie-w ohm-y: new.

protective. shieldiin its. expanded... condition; andapplied to. the head; ofjthe, wearer;

Eig, 5 is. asomewhatdiagranunatic sideselervational view to illustrate the angular relation ship of the pleats with 'respect-togthe-tabs "form ing the inner periphery ofthe expandedshield when applied to the head of the wearer;

Fig. 6 is a, fragmentary perspectiveiview of the pleated shield showing how the tabs arerelated and overlapped and Fig. 7 is a perspective View illustrating atypical clamp or other holding device applicable. to the; ends of the tie element of the shield for holding theshieldin positionon the head ofithewearer while; at; the sam 'timegpermittiug accommo dation ofthe shield toheads of difterentsizes- Referring now to .the drawing in detail, a strip:

ofsheet material it. otuniform or substantially -offlthe; pleated. sheet material in its.retracted--condition.illus-- 2 uniform width from endto end; is foldednprm itself orpleatedin the-manner: illustrated topmvide a multiplicity of individualpleat's" I if, each of which is provided withza hole or aperture 12: therethrough; It williihe particularly notediishat the holes or apertures 1'? are located andtar-- ranged in pairs and that each pairz'or such-holes or apertures is' closely adjacent: the fold line l-3- between the successive pairs er: individuali pleats. and that the :spacihgbeiaveenf "successive paiiissrof' holes or apertures isethushearly equal tothe: width of: two such pleats or folds; Thiszhfiave found to be highly "advantageous: not only the cause it enables the tie cordfito be threaded through the holes more :quicklyand" simply hut because the shield is. stronger:and'has-greaten ease of manipulation respect to:retract-ing and expanding the; plea-ted. sheet material into the compact package shown-inv Fig.3 andthe expanded condition. during use as shownin Fig.- 2, respectively. Thus, from Fig; -1,,in:partiou=lar, it will be observed that the first: pairot holesor apertures; is rarrangedroneither side, of; the.-,first. foldline I 3 and close to suchz'fold line; that-the; second fold line has nocontig-uous holes-or ap.er--- tures, that the third fold line is providedwwith that-contiguous holes or" aperturesllike' those-off succeeding pairsof holessor' apertures lie on and extend overxunapertured sheet. material, thus" providingan, improved construction ofsuperior strength.

Each individual pleat. i l-;terminates .at one end; ina projecting; tab 5.. the-sheetmaterial. b'etween successive -tabs.,haizing. been notched? out or; cutawayasindicated-at [i5 sosas-toprovideindividual semi-detached tabs each' oi which has a considerable freedom: of movement with .re--

spectto thepleat. from which it extends or. pm

jects as. .well as-having facile movement with-cre spect to the adjacent and succeeding: tabs-duningthe retract-ingot the pleatedsheetmaterial to the compact-package torm and the-expanding. offthesame to the extended. form whichit-ocou.--

pies. during use.

g Particularattention; is directed-to. tact. thatgthetabs italic. bendablegwitl respect itcc the pleats H mm. which-.they-extend andthat such;

3 bendability takes-placealong angular-1y. trans- "3 l. verse line or fold which, in contrast to the tabs in my aforesaid co-pending application, is at an angle to the pleats which is not a right angle. This is indicated in Fig. 1 by the dotted lines I! which constitute the lines of folding or bendability of the tabs and which, as will be readily perceived, are arranged in pairs such that the lines of fold or bendability of each pair of tabs form a shallow V, apex downward, the notchedout portions [6 of the strips tapering toward and terminating at the V-apices. Consequently, when each tab is bent about its angularly disposed fold-line, it assumes a position with respect to its pleat which is not a right angle and alternate tabs become similarly bent thus forming two differently directed series of tabs (see Fig. 6) and when the sheet material is in its pleated condition, the successive tabs appreciably overlap to form, in effect, a continuous inner surface wherein each of the tabs freely slides upon the preceding and succeeding tabs while still remaining overlapped. Thus, the tabs not only overlap but overlap in such a manner that in all positions of the shield they provide the said continuous surface, whereby the expanded shield when applied to the head of the wearer is exceptionally comfortable and has added strength and rigidity for enhancing the effectiveness thereof and for resisting the downward pressure which is exerted thereon by the hot-air blasts from the hair dryer or other blowing device.

These results are even more pronounced due to the fact that, as best shown in Fig. 1, the pleats H and tabs do not form a right angle with one another but the pleats form an acute (less than 90) angle with the tabs and the leverage due to the length of the pleats and the force of the hot-air blasts contacting the same is such as to provide exceptional and unusual strength since the tendency of the outer portion of the pleats to move downwardly under pressure does not strongly tend to pull the inner surface of the shield formed by the folded tabs away from the head of the wearer but exerts the contrary effect of tending to press the tabs more firmly against the wearers head. Thus, there is little or no likelihood of the shields slipping down the head of the wearer or of being forced into uneven or uncomfortable contact with the head, thereby providing a superior protective shield which has increased strength, rigidity and durability as well as superior effectiveness for the intended purpose.

The strip of sheet material may be composed of any suitable or desirable material or composirupturing and which has sufficient flexibility: coupled with adequate supporting rigidity to make it possible to retract and expand the pleats easily and without deformation. The strip may be colored or uncolored; decorated or plain. While in one form of the invention the sheet material may be an inexpensive material, such as paper, which can, if desired, be discarded after a single use thereof, it is also within the purview of the invention to make the protective shield of more durable material, like a plastic, which is capable of being sterilized so that it can be used over and over again and for successive hair drying or related procedures. In its retracted condi-. tion, the pleated strip material forms a very compact package for shipping, storing and other purposes or for being carried in a ladys handbag or pocketbook in the event that it is desired by any particular person to bring her own rotective shield to the beauty parlor or hairdressing establishment. It is retained in the retracted position, until used, by an envelope, rubber band, cord or other holding instrumentality.

The tie element I4 may be made of any suitable cellulosic or non-cellulosic material, such as a suitable cord or string, but may equally well be made of any flexible composition or synthetic material the specific nature of which does not constitute a limitation upon the invention. The tie element has adequate flexibility so that it can be threaded through the pairs of apertures referred to above and so that it can be tied at the back of the wearers head, but in this connection I have found it preferable to provide a clamp for holding the ends of the tie element without the necessity for knotting and unknotting the same and so as to permit ready adjustment with respect to the tightness of the shield about the wearers head and to allow for the application of the shield to heads of different sizes. An exemplary clamp is illustrated at [8 in Fig. 7 but it is to be understood that any suitable simple clamp may be employed and that the specific nature or construction of such clamp does not per se form a part of or a limitation upon the invention. The clamp is of any type capable of holding the tie element in adjusted position while enabling such element to be tightened or slacked by pulling on the same.

It will thus be apparent that I have provided a superior and improved protective shield for beauty parlor and related procedures whether carried out at a hair-dressing establishment or at home and that such protective shield has a unique construction with greatly enhanced utility and effectiveness. The shield is simple and inexpensive in its construction and is easily and simply converted from its retracted to its expanded condition, or vice versa.

The foregoing is intended as illustrative and not as restrictive since, within the terms of the appended claims, various modifications may be made without departing from the invention.

I claim:

1. A pleated protective shield adapted to be retracted into a compact package and to be expanded into circular form for application about the head of a wearer, which comprises a strip of sheet material of uniform width from end to end and folded upon itself a plurality of times to provide a series of individual pleats, a tab projecting from one end of each such pleat and bendable with respect to its pleat at an angle other than a right angle, succeeding tabs being separated by notches in the sheet material and each such pleat being provided with a hole adjacent one side of the pleat and near the tab thereof and a tie element threaded through said holes and adapted to be secured at the back of the head of the wearer.

2. A pleated protective shield adapted to be retracted into a compact package and to be expanded into circular form for application about the head of a wearer, which comprises a strip of sheet material of uniform width from end to end and folded upon itself a plurality of times to provide a series of individual pleats, a tab projecting from one end of each such pleat and bendable with respect to its pleat at an angle other than a right angle, succeeding tabs being separated by notches in the sheet material and each such pleat being provided with a hole adjacent one side of the pleat and near the tab thereof and a tie element threaded through said holes and adapted to be secured at the back of the head of the wearer, the said holes being arranged in closely adjacent pairs and the spacing between succeeding pairs of holes being nearly equal to the width of two such pleats.

3. A pleated protective shield adapted to be retracted into a compact package and to be expanded into circular form for application about the head of a wearer, which comprises a strip of sheet material of uniform Width from end to end and folded upon itself a plurality of times to provide a series of individual pleats, a tab projecting from one end of each such pleat and bendable with respect to its pleat at an angle other than a right angle, succeeding tabs being separated by V-shaped notches in the sheet material along one edge and having their apices terminating at the junctures of the tabs and pleats and each such pleat being provided with a hole adjacent one side of the pleat and near the tab thereof and a tie element threaded through said holes and adapted to be secured at the back of the head of the wearer, adjacent pairs of tabs being bendable at angles to one another which converge toward the fold-lines between alternate pairs of pleats, thereby forming a series of shallow Vs with their apices downward, such apices being substantially coterminous with the apices of the aforesaid V-shaped notches of the sheet material.

4. A pleated paper protective shield adapted to be secured about the head of a wearer to prevent hot-air blasts from a hair dryer or the like from making contact with the face, neck and ears of the wearer, which comprises a strip of sheet material of substantially uniform width from end to end folded upon itself to provide a multiplicity of pleats, a tab extending from one and the same end of each such pleat and bendable at an angle other than a right angle with respect to its pleat, the sheet material being notched out between successive tabs to provide freedom of movement of each such tab and the series of tabs in their bent condition being in overlapping relationship so as to provide a continuous inner surface adapted to make contact with the head of the wearer and a tie element threaded through closely adjacent pairs of holes provided in succeeding pairs of pleats, the protective shield when in its expanded condition and applied to the head of the wearer being disposed so that the pleats extend from the continuous surface formed by the succession of tabs at an angle less than a right angle.

UGO TORRICELLI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 913,937 Baum Mar. 2, 1909 2,172,510 Jaccard Sept. 12, 1939 2,194,043 Jacobi Mar. 19, 1940 2,242,555 Thurnherr May 20, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,068 Switzerland .a May 23, 1889 30,607 Netherlands Aug. 15, 1933 

